KUANTAN: A Sessions Court here sentenced a timber cutter to a maximum of 20 years in jail and 20 strokes of the rotan for raping a five-year-old girl.

K. Kamalason, 47, pleaded guilty to the charge committed at a Chinese graveyard in Bukit Setongkol here at about 6.45pm on Dec 25, 2006.

In handing down the sentence on Tuesday, Sessions Judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain described the offence as serious, cruel and inhuman, adding that the future of the victim was a very bleak one indeed.

He ordered the sentence to run from Tuesday.

In his submission, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Fadhli Mahmud said the offence was a case of aggravated violence as the victim not only sustained bodily harm but also suffered very serious internal injuries involving her uterus, intestines, private parts and anus.

“She was also traumatised by the whole ordeal and may not be able to lead a normal life. Her uterus has been badly damaged,” he said.

He asked for the court to impose a maximum sentence as the victim was a young girl and because the accused himself had two young children.

“How could he do such a thing when he himself has two children?” DPP Ahmad Fadhli said.

In mitigation, Kamalason who represented himself throughout the hearing, asked for a lighter sentence, saying he had a wife, a mother and two young children to take care of.